Environmental Reporting
Building on sustaining its transparency regarding climate-related disclosures, SICO publishes an annual GHG (greenhouse gas) Emissions Report to monitor and reduce GHG emissions. Its 2023 report, which will be published at the end of March, covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 2023. SICO made notable progress in reducing its GHG emissions, with a 20% reduction in absolute emissions and a 23% reduction in GHG intensity from the base year 2021. SICO continued its commitment to sustainability, resulting in a significant 32% reduction in absolute GHG emissions and an impressive 46% reduction in intensity. These reductions demonstrate our ongoing endeavors to minimize air emissions and mitigate its environmental impact.
It is worth noting that the latest GHG report included enhanced disclosures to encourage further transparency. This was reflected in reporting Saudi office figures, in addition to documenting district cooling value, actual figures of paper consumed, and partial release of purchased goods and services data. The figures also include the emissions from the new offices, as the relocation took place during the reporting period.
The breakdown of the total GHG emissions for 2022 showed that scope 1 emissions were relatively stagnant compared to last year, at 210.796 Mt CO2e. Scope 2’s share increased from 28% to 47% of total emissions with a value of 317.38 Mt CO2e, while scope 3 showed a 7% increase in its share of total emissions, reaching 141.16 Mt CO2e. The bank’s emissions per employee, representing 62% of employees, is 7.44 Mt, well below Bahrain’s GHG intensity rate per capita. Its scope 1 and 2 emissions per employee came below the GCC’s financial sector’s figures, recording 3.62 Mt CO2e.
Please check out our GHG Reports for more details.
Environmental Initiatives
SICO is committed not only to ensuring that its operations have no adverse impact on the environment but also to raising awareness and promoting sustainable business practices across its surrounding community to preserve the environment. SICO’s internal Go Green initiative has raised awareness within the Bank of practices that both the Bank and our employees can adopt to reduce our carbon footprint. Employees also participated in a beach clean-up event in 2022 to help preserve the marine ecosystem and mitigate the negative impact of waste and plastic pollution.
As part of its commitment to minimize waste, SICO supported Alwane Bahrain Society in their ‘No Food Waste’ campaign during the year. The campaign focuses on shifting consumption habits toward smart food purchases, reusing and recycling food, turning excess food into fertilizer, purchasing environmentally friendly products, establishing food banks, supporting charity societies, and following sustainable green circular economy methodology.
As part of an ongoing partnership with The National Initiative for Agricultural Development (NIAD)’s ‘Forever Green’ campaign, held under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, SICO provided 1,194 trees to be planted along Bahrain’s 16th of December Avenue. SICO initiated the first tree planting campaign in 2019 and made its third contribution to the project in 2022. Forever Green aims to preserve national resources, expand green spaces and reduce the Kingdom’s carbon footprint in support of the national goal to reach net zero by 2060.
In 2023, SICO sponsored a remarkable beach cleanup initiative that brought together 132 volunteers to mitigate the negative impact of waste and plastic pollution on thousands of marine animals. The volunteers dedicated themselves to cleaning up two beaches and demonstrated their commitment to preserving the natural beauty of coastal areas. They successfully removed an impressive 500 kilograms of waste from the shores through their collective efforts. This marked a significant contribution to the ongoing global efforts towards environmental sustainability.
To further embed sustainability within its operations, SICO implemented a “No Plastic, No Printing” policy and initiated the digitization of business cards. SICO will no longer be using or supplying plastic bottles, cutlery, or cups anywhere on its premises and reusable bottles have been issued to all employees. SICO has also begun recycling paper, plastic bottles, and metal cans in its offices, in addition to working with a local supplier to recycle any electronic waste generated.
As a means of raising environmental awareness within the organization as a whole, the Bank conducted a session with Dr. Reem AlMealla, a highly distinguished marine ecologist who specializes in coral reef ecology, on Bahrain’s biodiversity and environmental challenges. The session shed light on the importance of biodiversity in the fight against climate change and the prevention of diseases. It also tackled waste management issues and the role we can each play as individuals in building a more sustainable future.